Real-time expense tracker

Abstract

Systems and methods for real-time tracking of expenses and savings of users. Various user interfaces are configured to provide a variety of interactive functions and display different types of data associated with a user's financial state. Snapshots of a user's spending and/or savings state is provided in real time considering the timing of expenditures (or lack of expenditures) or the timing of savings (or lack of savings). Various graphs may be displayed that depict data such as budgets, spending, amounts of budgets remaining, actual amount remaining, savings, end of year projections, and/or projections to budget surplus states.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system, comprising:
 a processor; and   a memory configured to store processor-executable instructions, that when executed by the processor, cause operations to be performed, the operations comprising:
 receiving financial information, the financial information comprising a plurality of expenses that are associated with a budget, the expenses comprising variable expenses and scheduled expenses; 
 receiving information regarding a payment of an expense in the plurality of expenses; 
 updating a spending state in real time based on the received information; and 
 displaying a screen associated with the spending state, the screen comprising:
 an adaptable icon configured to visually represent the spending state; 
 a summary section providing a summary of spending, the summary section comprising spending over a day and spending over a time period that is greater than a day; and 
 a graph comprising at least one plot associated with spending over the time period. 
 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the memory stores further processor-executable instructions for updating the adaptable icon, the summary section, and the graph in real time throughout the day. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one plot comprises a first plot of actual expenses and a second plot of planned expenses. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one plot is a plot of a budget surplus for the budget. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the memory stores further processor-executable instructions for displaying a countdown timer that presents an amount of time to reach a breakeven point with respect to the budget. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the screen includes a first screen label for spending and a second screen label for saving, and the first screen label is selected. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 6 , wherein:
 the screen is a first screen;   the adaptable icon is a first adaptable icon;   the summary is a first summary;   the graph is a first graph; and   the memory stores further processor-executable instructions for:
 receiving a selection of the second tab; 
 responsively displaying a second screen associated with a savings state, the second screen comprising:
 a second adaptable icon configured to visually represent the savings state; 
 a second summary of savings, the second summary comprising savings over the day and savings over the time period; and 
 
 a second graph comprising at least one plot associated with savings over the time period. 
   
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the first adaptable icon is color coded with a first color that visually represents the spending state and the second adaptable icon is color coded with a second color that visually represents the savings state. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the memory stores further processor-executable instructions for displaying a banner in the second screen, the banner including a notification that is associated with the savings state. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the memory stores further processor-executable instructions for displaying a banner in the screen, the banner including a notification that is associated with the spending state. 
     
     
         11 . A method, comprising:
 receiving financial information, the financial information comprising a plurality of expenses that are associated with a budget, the expenses comprising variable expenses and scheduled expenses;   receiving information regarding a payment of an expense in the plurality of expenses;
 updating a spending state in real time based on the received information; and 
 displaying a screen associated with the spending state, the screen comprising:
 an adaptable icon configured to visually represent the spending state, the adaptable icon included in a plurality of adaptable icons; 
 a summary of spending, the summary comprising spending over a day and spending over a time period that is greater than a day; and 
 a graph comprising at least one plot associated with spending over the time period. 
 
   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising displaying a countdown timer that is configured to count down to a particular status level. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the at least one plot comprises a first plot of actual expenses and a second plot of planned expenses. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the graph includes an indicator for each adaptable icon in the plurality of adaptable icons, the plurality of indicators represented by colors that represent a plurality of spending states. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the plurality of indicators represent different budget surplus states. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the screen includes a first screen label for spending and a second screen label for saving, and the first screen label is selected. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein:
 the screen is a first screen;   the adaptable icon is a first adaptable icon;   the summary is a first summary;   the graph is a first graph; and   the method further comprises:
 receiving a selection of the second tab; 
 responsively displaying a second screen associated with a savings state, the second screen comprising:
 a second adaptable icon configured to visually represent the savings state; 
 a second summary of savings, the second summary comprising savings over the day and savings over the time period; and 
 
 a second graph comprising at least one plot associated with savings over the time period. 
   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the first adaptable icon is color coded with a first color that visually represents the spending state and the second adaptable icon is color coded with a second color that visually represents the savings state. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the method further comprises displaying a banner in the second screen, the banner including a notification that is associated with the savings state. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the method further comprises:
 receiving a selection of the expense displayed in the screen;   responsively displaying an edit screen configured to receive at least one input to edit a characteristic of the expense;   receiving an edit to the characteristic of the expense, the edit comprising a change in an amount of the expense; and   responsively displaying an updated screen of the screen that displays a revised summary based on the edit.